Paul Holes Reflects on the Golden State Killer Case 3 Years After Joseph James DeAngelo Jr.’s Arrest

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The now 53-year-old host of The Murder Squad podcast was first introduced to the case in 1994, when he was tapped as an investigator for the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office. At the time, the perpetrator in those cold case files was referred to as the East Area Rapist. Thankfully, due to a DNA breakthrough in 2001, it was discovered that the crimes committed by the Visalia Ransacker, the East Area Rapist, the Diamond Knot Killer and the Original Night Stalker were actually done by one man, later rebranded as the Golden State Killer.

Following years of collecting DNA evidence connected to these unsolved crimes, Holes got in contact with genealogist Barbara Rae-Venter. And it was through this genealogist that a successful genetic profile and family tree was used in the arrest of DeAngelo.

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